


Sweet Sorrow

by RKG



Category: Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 07:52:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14765576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RKG/pseuds/RKG
Summary: We all know that no one was really around to care when Varian was thrown in jail... but what if someone had been?





	Sweet Sorrow

**Author's Note:**

> Varian/OC dynamic! I'm normally a Cass/Varian shipper, but I just wanted to stretch my writing muscles with this little fic and @coronagoddess on tumblr's OC, Freya. :)

Freya hadn't stopped crying since she had heard the news.

She had wondered why Varian's letters had dropped off, not completely, but enough to make her worry about her friend and how he was doing in the wake of his Father's.. absence. She wished she could have gone to him, but being back in Old Corona was just too risky.

Now, it seems... he had been forced to come to her.

As she made her way down into the dungeon, she wondered if he was even safe here. She doubted it, even though, to her knowledge, all prisoners had their own private cells which was a good thing. The last thing she needed was to worry about him getting hurt, or worse. 

" _I can't believe he's... he's_..." a fresh bout of tears overtook her.

How could the sweet, soft boy she had known turn into a dangerous criminal that built automatons fully-equipped to kill? Did he somehow miss the memo that killing usually ended up in massive amounts of blood? The last time she had checked he still fainted at the sight of his own blood. Then again there was a lot of things that she had seemingly missed. She started to ask the jailer what cell he was in, but stopped as soon as she heard the maniacal raving.

" _YOU BROUGHT THIS ALL ON YOURSELVES! YOU DESERVED EVERYTHING THAT WAS COMING TO YOU_!!!!!!"

Was that him? Was that really the boy she had adored growing up? 

" _AND IF MY DAD WERE HERE HE'D SAY THE SAME THING_!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yes, that was him.

She ran to the farthest cell on the block, it seemed they were keeping him away from the rest of the prisoners.. which, in her opinion was a good thing.

"Varian--"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" he thundered, tossing a tray at the bars.

Freya stepped back, trembling. She had never know him to be violent or foul-tempered before, this was a Varian she didn't recognize. He was so angry.

"Varian...?" she whimpered.

The sound of her voice shattered him.

Freya, the one person besides his Dad that had truly ever cared for him stood at the door, tears streaming down her face, looking so utterly betrayed. As betrayed as he felt at the moment.

"Freya, I--"

"Wh-what did you DO?!" she exploded. "One minute I'm waiting on your letters--which never came, by the way--the next I'm hearing that you're being jailed for kidnapping, attempted murder, a-a-and TREASON?! What on earth?!"

Varian hung his head.

"Freya, I-I can explain..."

"I hope you can!"

"Th-The Princess... she refused to help me, Freya. And she could have--"

"It was a state of emergency, Varian--"

"TELL ME ABOUT IT!" he roared. "My Dad was being encased by rocks and she couldn't have taken 5 minutes--"

"You know it would've taken longer than that."

"No it wouldn't have! Not before he got encased!" maintained Varian. "I-I could've done something, Freya! She could have...!" he trailed off, voice breaking.

Freya nudged the jailer. "Could you please let me in to see him?" she begged.

"Five minutes." he grunted, opening the door.

Freya ran to him and hugged her friend, whatever bravado he had seemed to collapse, and for a moment they were both like little kids again, huddled together, crying. 

"I-I'm so sorry about Uncle Quirin!" she sobbed.

"They didn't give me a choice. No one did. Everyone refused to help and you know how everybody in Old Corona is... someone even said it was Dad's punishment for having a kid like me." 

Freya was appalled. "God... Varian...!"

He continued to sob on her shoulder, it was the first time he had really been able to let loose with anyone. Everyone else blamed him, everyone else hated him, everyone else had abandoned him. 

"Where.... where were you?!" he demanded suddenly, turning on her.

"I was right here, at the castle, like I've always been."

"Why didn't you come to visit me?! You're just as guilty as every one of them!" he cried, pushing her away from him.

"NO. I'M. NOT!" she shouted. "From your letters, I just thought you were sad, and busy, not plotting death for royalty!!!" 

"But why didn't you come?!" he growled.

"BECAUSE THE BRIDGE WAS OUT!" she cried. "No one could get in or out of Old Corona for awhile! But I guess you were blissfully unaware of THAT!"

"Blissfully? BLISSFULLY?!" he barked. "HARDLY! I was doing everything, building every kind of contraption I could to free Dad!"

"I know you were..." she said sadly. "But that doesn't excuse what you did, Varian! You have to know that what you did was WRONG!"

"WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE, THEN?!" he thundered, panting. "Because I would just like to know! If the only person you had left in the world was trapped--and possibly dying--WHAT WOULD YOU DO, FREYA?! Because I would do anything..."

He broke down again. Freya knew when to stop. She put her arms around him and just let him cry.

Slowly, Freya began to realize something... this could very well be the last time she saw Varian, alive, that is.

"W-What was your sentence?" she asked, hiccuping.

"I don't know... they haven't gotten that far yet."

Everything he had done was a hangable offense.

"When do they sentence you?" she asked.

"I don't know..." he muttered miserably. 

"I want to be there!"

"Ask them." he sighed, suddenly he was very tired. Freya saw the dark circles under his eyes and traced them with her finger.

"Varian, when did you last sleep?"

"Does it matter?" his voice gave away just how weary he was. "It... it's fine. I'm okay, Freya."

"No you're not."

"I... I will be." he trailed off. Close to 48 hours without any sleep was getting to him.

"Promise me you will sleep tonight." she ordered.

"What for?" he countered. "If they're going to kill me anyway, maybe I'll pass out beforehand and not be awake for it."

"Varian!" she cried. "Please... the King may still be merciful."

"No, Freya... if my Dad's gone, then... I should just follow him. No one's around... no one cares."

"That's not true! I care!"

Suddenly, they both heard the jailer approaching. Freya took one last look at him, the boy she was secretly in love with, and kissed him.

Varian was caugh off-guard, a multitude of emotions rushed through him but the biggest one was regret... this would be the first and probably last time they would ever be together like that. He pulled her to him, embracing her fully for the first and last time.

They drew away, breathless, as the jailer approached.

"Time's up." he declared, crossing his arms.

"I-I'll come back... if I can." she whispered, patting his hand before rushing off.

Varian's heart ached, watching her go. He didn't tell her about all the things he was going through because he didn't want her to worry, he had wanted to protect her, that sweet, innocent, beautiful little girl he had known.

" _Goodbye, Freya_." he thought, settling onto the prison bunk miserably.


End file.
